Love is Blind, But So Am I
by Shi-Toyu
Summary: Tony Stark was blinded during an accident when he was 9 but has still gone through his life and become Iron Man. When he gets kidnapped by Loki...well, let's just say they have a rather interesting conversation. You'll have to see it to believe it. FrostIron


A/N: This is just something that came to me while musing over Tony being blind. I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Love is Blind, But So Am I

The first thing Tony remembered after the accident was hearing voices. The angry shouting of his father, his mother's sobs, a stranger speaking soothingly. He'd later discover the soothing voice belonged to his doctor. This wasn't how he'd meant for things to happen.

Howard's lab was off limits to him, but he sometimes snuck in anyway. He was only 9, but he was smart enough to find his way inside. Besides, it wasn't like he could find a recursive, anti-griddle spin-blade anywhere else. All he'd wanted was to cut the pieces for his newest robot. He was finally going to make his father proud. He'd just slip in, program the specifications into the machine, grab the pieces and go…If only things had worked out that way.

In those first moments, lying in the hospital bed and listening to his father threaten the doctor, Tony had known he was in trouble. He knew he had messed up, knew his father would spare him a moment to scowl before going back to ignoring his existence. He didn't yet know how vastly his world had changed, how there was no going back. He would never see his father's scowl again, nor his mother's sad smile while she comforted him.

"Sir, Captain Rogers would like me to inform you that Agent Coulson has arrived and is calling an emergency meeting in the common living room. It appears the matter is rather urgent."

Tony Stark turned away from the balcony's banister and made his way back inside, knowing the layout of at least his own floor well enough to make it around without robotic assistance.

"Well, we wouldn't want to miss the party, would we, Jarv?"

It took him mere moments to snatch his required accessories off the stand by the elevator as he stepped through the doors. He settled the earpiece into place as the doors slid closed and he began his decent towards the common areas of the Avenger's Tower.

"Activate echo location capabilities."

"At once, sir."

A smile twitched the edge of Tony's lips as he let his voice drop into husky deepness.

"I'm Batman!"

It took only a moment for the sound to bounce back to him within the confined space of the area and he had a clear 'view' of the small box before JARVIS was even able to reply.

"Of course you are, sir."

The A.I.'s dry, British accent only made the comment sound more condescending but Tony knew from experience not to retaliate…It only encouraged him.

The echo location technology was something Tony hadn't developed fully until he was twelve, though he'd been making variations of it for two years previous. He hadn't wanted to use a cane, to be held back so severely by his handicap that he couldn't even get around on his own. The idea had come to him after listening to a documentary about bats. Jarvis, the caretaker his father had hired after the accident, had helped him build his prototypes. Jarvis had always been the indulgent type.

Now, the technology was good enough that sometimes Tony could meet people and they could go weeks, and sometimes months, without realizing he was blind. (Not that he often met people that didn't already know.) It'd taken Steve five weeks to ask why he always wore dark sunglasses, even indoors. Thor's reaction was even better when he'd blatantly ignored all the signs for almost six months before overhearing Tony talking about it with Clint.

The elevator dinged as the doors slid open on the appropriate floor and the resulting reverberations let the genius know he was the last to arrive.

"Well, now that everybody's here, let's get this party started." he said, clearly ignoring the fact that he was late. Really, it was more of an excuse to make enough noise to easily find his seat. He wasn't sure if the others knew that's why he always made a snarky comment when first entering a room, but no one called him on it.

He sent a grin Coulson's way, knowing without having to see him that the man was exasperated. Coulson was always exasperated, at least when Tony was involved. The genius had that effect on people. Instead of commenting, though, the agent just turned back to his presentation.

"We've received a tip that Loki has teamed up with Victor Von Doom and they're planning something big. There's no word yet on exactly what, but I'm inclined to think any pairing between these two isn't going to end well for the rest of us."

"So what _do_ we have?" Cap asked from his place at the end of the table. (Tony was inclined to believe he always took the far seat so he could keep an eye on the rest of them.)

"A location. These coordinates," Tony could only assume he pulled something up on the screen. That was fine, he'd get them from JARVIS later, "signify the location of the old base Doom and Loki seem to be using at their headquarters. We have been able to confirm the presence of at least Loki on site."

Thor's brows were pulled together like thunderclouds over his eyes.

"I do not understand what could have prompted my brother into taking such actions. Doom is not his usual type when it comes to partners."

"Hey, a supervillain's a supervillain."

"Not in my brother's world, Friend Barton. Such a label would only be a small facet of the bigger picture, one handle of many he would use for manipulation. Alliances mean little to him. It is Doom's personality I feel would get in the way of his partnership. He does not seem the type my brother could stand to be around for long."

Tony barked a laugh.

"Maybe we should all start talking in third person. Then maybe your brother would leave _us_ alone, too!"

"As valuable as your strategic contributions are to this team, Mr. Stark, I think we should focus on the threat currently facing us. We know the location of their base and we know that they are planning something, but I'd rather this never reach the point of endangering civilians. For this reason, we have authorized a preemptive attack."

When Steve spoke, Tony could hear the frown in his voice…along with those classic 1940's morals.

"How can we be sure they're planning something? It wouldn't be right to attack without justification first."

Tony just scoffed.

"What do you think they're doing in there, Cap? Drinking tea? We know they're planning something because their supervillains and that's what they _do_." He turned back to face Coulson, a habit he'd developed because it put people more at ease when he actually looked in their direction when he talked to them. "When do we leave?"

"Immediately. Suit up and meet at the quinjet in ten."

Tony's hand clapped Steve's shoulder as they exited the room and he hung back a touch, letting the others file out first.

"Don't worry so much. If you want, we'll scope the place out first and see what they've got going on before we make a move. You're team leader, remember? I don't much care what SHIELD or Fury says, the Avengers don't work for anybody."

Then he was out the door before too many emotions could crowd the room. The last thing he needed was a heartfelt conversation with Captain Righteous. They only had ten minutes to meet up at the quinjet, after all.

As it turned out, the coordinates Coulson had given them were to an old base in northern Canada. The military had abandoned it almost 20 years prior and no one had inhabited it since…except, of course, the two supervillains inhabiting it now.

It still _looked_ abandoned, according to Tony's scans and what the others could see. There were no guards patrolling the grounds or vehicles coming and going. Thor had suggested a myriad of magical protections his brother could have put on the place and Tony was reminded, once again, of how much he hated magic.

The Captain, Black Widow, and Clint went in first, scoping out the area and leaving the others to park the quinjet nearby. It took Natasha all of a minute to find her way inside of the building and start looking around. The com link crackled a touch as she checked in.

"Nothing much to see in here. Everything is covered in dust. It looks like there hasn't been anyone here in ages. Whatever base of operations Loki and Doom are using, this isn't it. There's no way they could amass any troops or even build something in here without disturbing _something_. Looks like SHIELD's info was faulty."

The news was both troubling and a relief. On one hand, this could mean there wasn't a team-up going on after all. On the other, it meant that, if there was, they didn't know anything about it. Clint was just checking in to give the same report on his end when a new, yet very familiar, voice came over the coms.

"Oh, tsk, tsk, tsk…I'd actually thought it would be harder to lure the Avengers out. I'm disappointed, really. You're making this far too easy on me."

Tony was out of the quinjet and heading towards the base before Loki had even finished speaking. His systems told him that the Aesir's voice was originating from Natasha's unit and he really didn't like what that spelled for his teammate.

"What can I say, Rudolf? We just can't stay away when there's an ass to be kicked…Today, I'm thinking yours is on the menu."

He blew through the front doors of the base, JARVIS taking control to weave him through the sharp turns of the concrete corridors. At times like these, he and the A.I. worked in tandem to operate the Iron Man suit. It was the only way he'd actually be able to pilot it during battle, given his condition. It only took about 20 seconds for him to reach the large room where his teammates were doing battle with the former prince of Asgard.

The ultra-sonic waves constantly emitted from his suit allowed the genius to keep track of each of his teammates as he fired off a series of repulsor blasts at the enemy. Good old Cap threw his Shield right after the blasts, managing to catch Loki in the shoulder while he was preoccupied. The god was spun to the side by the blow, taking only moments to regain his footing. He didn't look happy about it.

Clint was up in the rafters, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash his arrows while Natasha circled around the room to get behind Loki's back. The supervillain sent a bolt of green energy at Steve, the blow hurling him into a nearby wall. A flick of one pale wrist and Natasha was spinning through the air, too.

Then, suddenly, a hammer was knocking Loki off his feet and Thor was there, accompanied by Bruce. The doctor was looking decidedly green, but hadn't yet unleashed the rage monster inside. Loki snarled as he rose to his feet.

"Ah, Thor, such a pleasure to see you again."

It didn't sound very sincere, in Tony's opinion. Still, he didn't get paid to deal with family problems. He used Loki's momentary distraction to tackle him, the shoulder of his suit digging into Loki's abdomen. He might have felt a rib crack. He certainly hoped so.

Then Loki's palm was pressed to his shoulder and he was muttering words in a language Tony couldn't understand, clearly a spell. With a whoosh of air, the genius's suit disappeared and he was suddenly chest to chest with a god who had a history of trying to kill him. The buckles of his leather outfit pressed hard against Tony's skin, his thin t-shirt not giving him much protection. He knew instantly that his echo location earpiece had gone the same way as his suit.

"Well, isn't this an interesting turn of events?"

"Brother, unhand him!"

"Oh, Thor, where would be the fun in that?"

Tony didn't need to be able to see in order to know that Loki was grinning. He could hear it in his voice just fine. He stared sightlessly as what he assumed was Loki's shoulder, waiting for the blow that would snap his neck or stop his heart or some other horrible end.

As far as ways to die went, Tony figured he could do worse than via battle with the God of Mischief and Fire. Actually, it was badass now that he thought about it, certainly not a bad end for a blind man. Gee, Dad, look at me now.

The billionaire was so caught up in his thoughts of imminent death that he almost missed the shift in conversation. He tuned back in as an arm wrapped firmly around his waist, pressing him closer to the homicidal god.

"I grow bored of your talk, Thor, and your calls upon a kinship we do not share. Besides, I have rather important business to attend to. You'll have to excuse me."

Thor may have said, shouted, something in response, but all Tony knew was that the arm around him tightened and there was a rush of air before his feet hit the ground once more. He probably would have stumbled if it weren't for Loki still holding on to him. The thought did little to brighten his mood.

"Alright, what's with the handsy-ness all of a sudden, Frosty? I know I'm irresistible, but _please. Resist._"

The chest pressed against his own vibrated as Loki chuckled.

"If release was what you sought, you needed only to ask."

And then the arm around him was gone, the chest moving away as Loki presumably stepped back. It did little to set Tony at ease. He was adrift in a sea of blackness in an unknown location and the whole thing was reminding him a bit too much of Afghanistan for his liking. At least there was a breeze here.

"What do you want from me? I know you teleported us out of there, so you took me for a reason."

"Well, well, Stark, it looks like you _are_ as smart as they say." came Loki's mocking reply. Tony didn't appreciate it. "You are correct. There is something I wish to show you."

The genius barked out a bitter laugh.

"Yeah, so, apparently you didn't notice. Sorry to throw a kink in your little plan there, Loki-dokes, but I'm fuckin' _blind_. And, since you decided to up and vanish my earpiece as well as my suit…"

"What has your earpiece to do with your ability to see?"

Tony could hear the actual curiosity in Loki's voice, the desire to learn something rather than just hear it. Grudgingly, he had to admit that he never could resist the urge to brag about one of his inventions.

"The earpiece allows me to pick up on ultra-sonic sound waves that help me place people and things in my surrounding area. I can't _see_ with it, but I know pretty much where things are, along with the general size and shape."

Loki made a thoughtful noise and a beat of silence stretched between them before he spoke.

"And this technology…it is common among the blind of your realm?"

Tony snorted.

"Not even close. I tried to release it to the public when I was fifteen. I was convinced I would start up a new Stark Industries and outdo my dad." He felt the grin inching across his face and quickly schooled himself. He was talking to an enemy here, no need to get chummy. "Anyway, it didn't go over well. Most people can't do the math it takes to figure out where things are, so the idea got scrapped for a commercial basis."

"It seems you have quite the brilliant mind. I am impressed."

"Yeah, and I'd like to be getting home. Any way we could wrap this up quickly?"

There was more silence between them and Tony started feeling fidgety. Would he hear it if Loki teleported away? Had the god left him here to wonder blindly through who knows what kind of territory? That seemed about up to speed with his sense of humor.

Without warning, something brushed Tony's face and he leapt backwards…and off of solid ground. For a terrifying moment, the genius was suspended in absolute nothingness before strong arms grabbed him and yanked him back against the chest that was quickly becoming too familiar for his liking. Much to Tony's chagrin, there was more chuckling.

"Now, now, watch your step. I wouldn't want you to get yourself splattered all over the side of this lovely mountain range."

Great. Loki had taken a _blind man_ to a _mountain range_ and apparently decided it was a good idea to stand him right next to the edge. Thanks, God of Fire. You're the best.

But there was no time to dwell on it. Loki was turning him around until his back faced the trickster's chest. One hand was planted firmly on his shoulder and Tony thought for a moment that Loki meant to push him over the edge, his earlier save being just to keep the pleasure of actually killing him to himself. Loki's other hand, though, found its way up until it was covering Tony's eyes.

"I'd really hate for you to take this the wrong way, but I'm not sure if you're really grasping my meaning. I don't know how being blind works on Asgard, but here on Earth it means that hand of yours isn't really doing much."

"Silence, Stark. I need concentration for what is to come, unless you feel inclined to sprout foliage from your brow." In response to the sudden stiffening of Tony's shoulders, he continued, "Peace. I do not intend to harm you."

Tony took a shuddered breath. There was no reason for Loki to lie to him now, not when the hero was so vulnerable and defenseless. He could tell Tony anything he wanted and it wouldn't much matter. So, for once in his life, Tony pressed his lips tightly together and resisted the temptation to spout out some smart-mouthed comment or other.

The fingers over his eyes fluttered lightly as Loki spoke into his ear. The words were in the same foreign language as before, spoken smoothly and sensually in a voice the genius had been admiring since the alien invasion. Tony could feel a stirring in his abdomen and quickly pushed the urges aside. Now was _certainly_ not the time. In fact, there was never a time for that. Not with Loki. Nope. No way. Not a chance….even if his voice was rather attractive.

The hand withdrew from over his eyes, trailing lightly over his skin before settling on his unoccupied shoulder. Loki didn't move from behind him and Tony could hear the smirk in his words when he spoke again.

"Open your eyes, Stark. This is my favorite place on your miserable planet. I wanted to share it with you."

Despite the pointlessness of it all, Tony did as he was asked. Then he blinked…and blinked again. His mouth fell open and, for a moment, he was speechless. But, in the end, this was Tony Stark and he was not about to let some trick from the master of them get to him.

"Let me guess, New Zealand? Yeah, we're gonna need a few more party members to jump on the 'Fellowship' bandwagon. On the bright side, I've always said that Clint would make an awesome Legolas."

Still, his gaze never wavered from the rolling valleys and cliff faces of the land before him. He couldn't see much detail in the twilight that surrounded them, but he could tell they were in an epic expanse of space. It was enough to take the breath away of someone who'd actually been able to see for their entire life. He would have been blown away to _SEE_ anything, but this…He couldn't bring himself to look away.

Loki's fingers tightened minutely on his shoulders, the only sign that he was displeased. When he spoke, it was with a neutral tone.

"That is truly the first thing that comes to mind after regaining your sight? I would have thought it would be something a bit more profound."

A snort from the shorter man.

"I'm not sure if you've heard, but I'm not exactly known for my emotional outbursts. Besides, pop culture references are practically my own language."

"Well, if you are going to make one, I suppose Lord of the Rings is an acceptable one to make."

"Woah, woah, woah! You know Lord of the Rings?"

Tony's gaze was finally drawn away from the fields before him to the god behind and…woah again. Nobody had bothered to tell him that Thor's brother looked like sex on legs. Maybe it was because Loki was the first person he'd seen in far too many years, but _damn_. He did not remember people looking that good. He couldn't help raking his eyes over the man, god, whatever.

He was thin, but in a way that suggested more lean muscles than a lack of them. His height, too, added to the perception that he was a bit larger than life. He was wrapped in leathers and straps that hugged his frame, but the cape and helmet Tony had heard so much about were missing. Pale skin contrasted starkly with jet back hair that was tucked behind Loki's ears and emerald eyes glittered like gems. Tony had to force himself not to reach up and run a hand over those chiseled cheekbones.

Smooth, soft-looking lips quirked into a knowing smirk and Tony realized that he'd missed whatever Loki said in response…and the god knew it. Judging by the way he leaned almost imperceptively closer, he didn't mind much, either. Tony had to remind himself quite sternly that this was Loki, one of his arch enemies, and this was no doubt a trick to convince him to do something or win his favor or…good Lord this guy was hot.

"Why did you bring me here?" he said, voice just a touch raspy. It only made Loki's smirk grow.

"I told you, this is one of my favorite places on Midgard. It seemed appropriate that I share the experience of coming here with you when I restored your sight. It reminds me greatly of Vanaheim, where I truly learned my magical craft."

"But why was that even a thing? Restoring my sight? You can't expect me to believe this is real."

Loki took a single step back, away from him, and Tony felt the chill of the night air for the first time. His distance did nothing to lessen the grace of his features, though, and the genius was more than happy to admire the view while he could.

"As powerful a thing as belief is to someone such as myself, whether or not you do believe it has little to do with the truth of the matter. You're sight is yours once more, Anthony Stark, and it is not going to vanish again by any means of mine. I may not be Thor's brother by birth, but we were raised together and an Odinson always pays his debts."

Tony just stared at him for a second.

"I'm not sure whether to be more surprised by the fact that you apparently owed me and decided to give me my sight back as payment or that you just made a Game of Thrones reference."

"Yes, well, your pop culture is not completely lost on me. I rather like the politics at play in that particular series."

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me." Somehow, they'd moved closer again, each holding the other's gaze steadily. "Now, remind me again what it was you were in my debt for?"

Loki's hand was on him again, trailing up his neck and running one thumb across the edge of his chin. Funny, how he didn't feel the least bit threatened by the gesture. He leaned into the touch a bit.

"For seeing what others could not, even as a blind man. Do you remember our conversation when I appeared in your tower during that first invasion of Earth?"

"How could I forget? You threw me out of a window. That kind of thing sort of leaves an impression on a guy."

"You asked me what color my eyes were."

"You never answered me. They're green now."

Tony's half-lidded eyes continued to hold Loki's gaze as he drew closer and closer. The near-contact was distracting, keeping Tony's mind away from what he'd been told about Clint and Selvig's eyes turning bright blue from the mind control. Their lips were barely a breath apart and the genius could feel the god's brush his own as Loki answered.

"They weren't then."

And then there was no space between their lips.

A/N: Please let me know what you thought!


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